These days, a digitalization of electronic and electric apparatus etc. has been promoted in many fields. In such apparatus, an analog to digital converter (defined as "ADC" hereinafter) and a digital to analog converter (defined as "DAC" hereinafter) are very important to connect means for analog and digital signals with each other.
Among such ADCs, a successive approximation ADC is used advantageously in view of a middle; and high; speed operation and a considerable number of conversion bits.
In the approximation ADC, successive an analog signal is sampled to be held in a sample; and-hold circuit. On the other hand, a first reference voltage V.sub.R.sup.+ and a second reference voltage V.sub.R.sup.- are supplied to a local DAC in which a predetermined calculation of the voltages V.sub.R.sup.+ and V.sub.R.sup.- is performed in accordance with a bit order of a control digital signal supplied from a successive approximation register thereby producing a new reference potential. The analog signal as held in the sample; and-hold circuit is compared in a comparator with the reference potential of the local DAC to decide a content ("1" or "0") of a bit of a digital signal. Thus, all bits of the digital signal are compared successively with corresponding reference potentials which are calculated based on the bit order of the digital signal. Accordingly, a content of all the bits is decided, and the digital signal thus obtained is supplied from the successive approximation register. A local DAC described above is one of two types depending on its use of either of a resistor string or a capacitor array.
In the successive approximation ADC in which the resistor string is utilized, however, there is a disadvantage that a portion of an area occupied by the resistor string becomes large in a semiconductor integrated circuit because the number of resistors is increased as that of the bits is increased for the reason resistors of at least 2.sup.n are required to be provided therein where n is the number of bits. In order to avoid the increase of the resistor area, it is considered that a resistance value of each unit resistor is decreased. However, this results in much deterioration of precision in the analog to digital conversion process because contact resistance values of the connecting points of the unit resistor are fluctuated.
In order to overcome the disadvantage described above, a local DAC of a charge redistribution type is often used in an ADC in which a digital signal having a large number of bits is obtained. In the local DAC, each capacitor of a capacitor array is connected through, for instance, three switches to three input terminals for an analog signal, and first and second reference voltages. Each of the switches is composed of a transfer gate including a pair of N; and P-channel MOS transistors. Even in an ADC utilizing such a local DAC, there is the disadvantage that an error affecting the precision of the analog to digital conversion occurs when signals for turning on the switches are supplied thereto later than respective specified timings. The construction and operation of this ADC utilizing such a local DAC thereof will be described in detail together with causes of the disadvantage hereinbelow.